KNEECAP – FENIAN
KNEECAP return with “FENIAN”, the title track from their second album, due May 1 via Heavenly Recordings — pushed back a week from the original April 24 date. It follows earlier singles “Smugglers & Scholars” (W09) and “Liars Tale” (W05) and arrives as the final pre-release signal before what’s shaping up to be a significant summer for the Belfast trio.
The word “Fenian” carries a long history as an anti-Irish slur, but its roots are older — the Fenian Brotherhood were 19th-century Irish revolutionaries committed to overthrowing British rule. The song reclaims that lineage directly. KNEECAP describe it as “an anthem to embrace our Fenian past, and to cure our colonial hangover by reconnecting the warriors of Irish folklore with the Fenian c*nts from the North of Ireland today.” That’s their framing, and the music delivers on it: acid rave beats, group chants, a chorus designed to be spelled out by a crowd. Where “Smugglers & Scholars” was sharper and more hip-hop in construction, “FENIAN” swings toward the dancefloor.
Produced by Dan Carey, the album’s sonic range is starting to take shape across these three singles. The 14-track record also includes collaborations with Lankum’s Radie Peat on “Cocaine Hill”, Kae Tempest on closing track “Irish Goodbye”, and West Bank-based rapper Fawzi on “Palestine”. One source flags a contribution from Norwegian synth-pop group Casiokids, though this isn’t confirmed across all press material. What’s consistent is that Carey’s production gives the chaos some structural discipline — the track hits hard but doesn’t sprawl. I keep coming back to the chorus: crude in concept, completely effective in execution, the kind of thing that feels almost inevitable once you’ve heard it.
The video was directed by Thomas James and filmed in and around West Belfast, with DJ Provai’s tricolour balaclava running through it. James described the shoot as “a fever dream of running around Ireland convincing people to pop a bally on and do something mental.” It fits. Before the album drops, KNEECAP are doing a run of in-store shows across the UK — Kingston, Brighton, Bristol, Nottingham, Dundee, Edinburgh, and London — leading into the Crystal Palace Park headline on June 27, with support from The Mary Wallopers, Fat Dog, Biig Piig, Gurriers, and Madra Salach.
Tour Dates:
Ireland:
- 23 Apr — Kingston (with Banquet Records)
- 24 Apr — Brighton — Chalk (with Resident Records)
- 25 Apr — Bristol — Fleece (with Rough Trade)
- 26 Apr — Nottingham — Rescue Rooms (with Rough Trade)
- 28 Apr — Dundee — Live House (with Assai)
- 29 Apr — Edinburgh — Liquid Rooms (with Assai)
- 30 Apr — London — TBC (with Rough Trade East)
- 29–30 May — Belfast — AVA Festival
- 30 Jul–02 Aug — Waterford — All Together Now
Europe:
- 06 Jun — Barcelona, Spain — Primavera Sound
- 08 Jun — Bilbao, Spain — Santana 27
- 09 Jun — Madrid, Spain — La Riviera
- 11 Jun — Porto, Portugal — Primavera Sound
- 13 Jun — Neuchâtel, Switzerland — Festi’Neuch
- 15 Jun — Milan, Italy — Magnolia Unaltrofestival
- 16 Jun — Bologna, Italy — Sequoie Music Park
- 17 Jun — Rome, Italy — Cavea Auditorium Parco Della Musica
- 18 Jun — Bari, Italy — Fiera del Levante
- 20 Jun — Attica, Greece — Terra Vibe Park, Rockwave
- 24 Jun — Helsinki, Finland — Allas Live
- 01 Jul — Gdynia, Poland — Open’er Festival
- 02 Jul — Roskilde, Denmark — Roskilde Festival
- 04 Jul — Werchter, Belgium — Rock Werchter
- 13–14 Jul — Ljubljana, Slovenia — Kino Šiška
- 18 Jul — Plovdiv, Bulgaria — PhilGood Festival
- 20 Jul — Istanbul, Turkey — KüçükÇiftlik Park
- 06 Nov — Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg — Rockhal
- 09 Nov — Stockholm, Sweden — BK
- 10 Nov — Oslo, Norway — Oslo Spektrum
- 20 Nov — Paris, France — Le Zénith
UK:
- 27 Jun — London — Crystal Palace Park (w/ The Mary Wallopers, Fat Dog, Biig Piig, Gurriers, Madra Salach)
- 12–16 Aug — Winchester — Boomtown
- 28–30 Aug — Reading & Leeds Festivals
